TITLE 28 GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Section 9. Code Revision Commission, 28-9-1 through 28-9-5.

ARTICLE 5 FAIR AND OPEN GRANTS

28-9-5. Publication of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated; authority to make corrections and editorial changes; effect of changes; treatment of multiple amendments; preparation and introduction of legislation reenacting and correcting Code; effect.

The Code Revision Commission shall provide for the publication of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated and any pocket parts, supplements, revised volumes, or recodifications thereof. In compiling, editing, arranging, and preparing the Acts and resolutions of the General Assembly for such publication and without altering the sense, meaning, or effect of such Acts and resolutions, the commission is authorized to:
1. Correct the spelling of words;
2. Change capitalization for the purpose of uniformity;
3. Correct manifest typographical and grammatical errors;
4. Substitute the proper Code section number, chapter number, or other number or designation for the terms "this Act," "the preceding Code section," and similar words or phrases;
5. Renumber, redesignate, and rearrange chapters, articles, parts, subparts, Code sections, or any combination or portion thereof;
6. Change cross-reference numbers to agree with renumbered chapters, Code sections, or portions of the Code;
7. Substitute the proper calendar date for "the effective date of this chapter" and other phrases of similar import;
8. Strike out figures if they are merely a repetition of written words or vice versa, or substitute figures for written words or vice versa for the purpose of uniformity;
9. Correct manifest errors in references to laws;
10. Correct inaccurate references to the titles of officers, the names of departments or other agencies of the state, local governments, or the federal government, and the short titles of other laws and make such other name changes as are necessary to be consistent with the laws currently in effect;
11. Rearrange definitions in alphabetical order;
12. Insert or delete hyphens in words so as to follow correct grammatical usage;
13. Change numerals or symbols to words or vice versa for purposes of uniformity and style;
14. Change nouns from the singular to the plural or vice versa for purposes of style and grammar; and
15. Change punctuation for purposes of uniformity and consistency of style.
  Any change or correction made by the Code Revision Commission pursuant to its authority under this subsection shall not become the law of the State of Georgia if such change or correction results in an alteration of the meaning, sense, or effect of the Acts and resolutions of the General Assembly, even though such change or correction may have been included in a pocket part, supplement, or revised volume of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated which has been reenacted by a bill authorized by subsection (c) of this Code section.
For purposes of publishing volumes, replacement volumes, and supplements to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated pursuant to this chapter: legislation enacted at the same session of the General Assembly and amending the same statutory provision shall be considered in pari materia, and full effect shall be given to each if that is possible; Acts enacted during the same session shall be treated as conflicting with each other only to the extent that they cannot be given effect simultaneously; in the event of such a conflict, the latest enactment, as determined by the order in which bills became Acts with or without the approval of the Governor, shall control to the extent of the conflict unless the latest enactment contains a provision expressly ceding control in such an event; and language carried forward unchanged in one amendatory Act shall not be read as conflicting with changed language contained in another Act passed during the same session.
The Code Revision Commission shall prepare and have introduced at each regular session of the General Assembly one or more bills to reenact and make corrections in the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, portions thereof, and the laws as contained in the Code and any pocket part, supplements, and revised volumes thereof. Except as otherwise provided by general law, such reenactment of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated shall have the effect of adopting and giving force and effect of law to all the statutory text and numbering as contained in such volumes, pocket parts, and supplements, including but not limited to provisions as published therein in accordance with subsections (a) and (b) of this Code section.

(Code 1981, §28-9-5, enacted by Ga. L. 1985, p. 202, § 1; Ga. L. 1986, p. 10, § 28; Ga. L. 2014, p. 866, § 28/SB 340; Ga. L. 2015, p. 5, § 28/HB 90.)

Code Commission notes.

- The last sentence of current subsection (c) of this Code section regarding the effect of reenactment of the Code was added by Ga. L. 2014, p. 866, § 28/SB 340, in immediate response to (and in rejection of) footnote 3 of the majority opinion in Rutter v. Rutter, 294 Ga. 1, 749 S.E.2d 657 (2013).

Editor's notes.

- The Act which enacted this Code section was signed on the same day as, but subsequent to, the Act which enacted Code Sections28-9-1 through28-9-4. Section 2 of the Act which enacted this Code section provided that this Code section would be designated " § 28-1-16" in the event that Ga. L. 1985, p. 197 (enacting §§ 28-9-1 through28-9-4) was not enacted at the 1985 session. Ga. L. 1985, p. 197 was signed into law effective February 12, 1985.

Ga. L. 2013, p. 141, § 54(d)/HB 79, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "For purposes of publishing volumes, replacement volumes, and supplements to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated pursuant to Chapter 9 of Title 28: legislation enacted at the same session of the General Assembly and amending the same statutory provision shall be considered in pari materia, and full effect shall be given to each if that is possible; Acts enacted during the same session shall be treated as conflicting with each other only to the extent that they cannot be given effect simultaneously; in the event of such a conflict, the latest enactment, as determined by the order in which bills became law with or without the approval of the Governor, shall control to the extent of the conflict unless the latest enactment contains a provision expressly ceding control in such an event; and language carried forward unchanged in one amendatory Act shall not be read as conflicting with changed language contained in another Act passed during the same session." This provision was later codified by Ga. L. 2014, p. 866, § 28/SB 340, as subsection (b) of Code Section 28-9-5.

For Acts reenacting the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, see the Editor's notes to § 1-1-1.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Effect of adoption of Code by General Assembly.

- Adoption of a Code by the General Assembly, which was prepared for the legislature by a Code commission, was a legislative act which gave force and effect of law to the entire contents of such Code and cured any alleged defect in such content. Central of Ga. Ry. v. State, 104 Ga. 831, 31 S.E. 531 (1898).

Whether Code sections are taken from statutes of the state or otherwise, when they are incorporated in a Code adopted by the legislature of this State, they have the effect of statute law. Lumpkin v. Patterson, 170 Ga. 94, 152 S.E. 448 (1930).

Substantive amendment not related to object of Code reviser bill unconstitutional.

- 1989 amendment to O.C.G.A. § 34-9-13(e), which greatly limited availability of workers' compensation benefits to surviving spouses but was enacted in Code reviser bill that had the object and title reflecting a purpose of correcting only grammatical errors and to modernize language in various statutes, violated Ga. Const. 1983, Art. III, Sec. V, Para. III. Sherman Concrete Pipe Co. v. Chinn, 283 Ga. 468, 660 S.E.2d 368 (2008).

Non-profit association lacked standing to pursue quo warranto against Commission members.

- Non-profit association with the purpose of focusing on public interest matters of self-defense and gun laws of the State of Georgia was not a "person" which could claim to have an interest in the offices held by the Georgia Code Revision Commission members for purposes of pursuing a writ of quo warranto under O.C.G.A. § 9-6-60. No association standing was shown because the interests the association sought to protect were not shown to be germane to its purpose. Georgiacarry.org, Inc. v. Allen, 299 Ga. 716, 791 S.E.2d 800 (2016).

Cited in Rutter v. Rutter, 294 Ga. 1, 749 S.E.2d 657 (2013); GeorgiaCarry.Org, Inc. v. Code Revision Commission, 299 Ga. 896, 793 S.E.2d 35 (2016); Evans v. Gwinnett County Public Schools, 337 Ga. App. 690, 788 S.E.2d 577 (2016).

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